Travel Feature: Simply Stunning - Singapore Day 2

Continuing from the initial article of our Singapore trip, day 2 of our stay in Singapore was more of a walking trip. We had a lot of places to go that were close to Clarke Quay that we wanted to visit and the walk would also serve as our day's workout routine. Our first destination of interest was to go to the most talked about shopping mall called ION along Orchard which claims to have everything that a shopper would need and be looking for. Along the way would be of course be Orchard Road which was just full of malls and shops. One would have to hold on to their wallets otherwise you might end up shopping beyond your budget by the time you get to ION. After Orchard is China Town where we decided to cap our night with dinner and of course more shopping.

It was pretty sunny when we started walking along Orchard

Orchard Road is the business and shopping district for both tourists and residents of Singapore. One will find all the different designer brands from H&M to Louis Vitton along the way. I even got to see a shop of the luxury designer phones known as Vertu which I dared not look though cause i would have been tempted to buy something I would have regretted after - SGD19,800 for a Vertu Smartphone with Ruby bezel and more. Just thinking about it now is making be crave. Back to Orchard Road, there is simply so much to do and see in Orchard Road. One thing I did notice though is that Singapore isn't a street vendor type of culture, unlike in Bangkok and the Philippines, there aren't any roaming street vendors and those that do have a formal post and time as to when they can sell. All the buildings along Orchard Road had a certain character and at night they seem to be glowing even more with all the light and LED displays. I loved the trees and birds along Orchard Road cause it made the walk cool and therapeutic with the breeze and birds chirping. They even have benches along the way in case you felt tired from walking and just needed a little break.

Love the Huge Trees providing a lot of cover from the sun.

First stop we made along Orchard Though was in H&M's shop. We just couldn't resist shopping there as my partner needed shades and I just wanted to check out the bargains. I wanted to visit H&M here in Singapore because there is no H&M Shop in the Philippines and most of their stuff is really good fashion and quality wise plus it is quite reasonably priced. We also paid a visit to Uni Qlo just to check out the price difference between Singapore and the Philippines branch and surprisingly we found that a lot of their stuff is priced cheaper in the Philippines, but we still ended up buying a pair of jeans for SGD69.90 and a pair of shorts for SGD16.90.  I constantly had my Currency XE App ready to do the computations. I loved that application because not only does it convert but it can do the math as well which as shoppers we know is quite important when you are crunched for time, simply make sure get to sync with the current rates via WiFi prior to heading out to shop.

The H&M shop was pretty hard to miss on Orchard Road - got to buy shades, a jacket, and more here.

After shopping at H&M was the long but pleasurable walk towards ION of Orchard. Along the way we saw quite a bit of interesting things from sign boards that talk about the fight of human slavery to gadget booths and even an large booth type store of 7/11. There were lots of interesting sculptures too, and one of my favorites were the colorful figures standing just outside of ION.

There are many benches like these along Orchard Road though it was quite a unique sight to see someone actually fully enjoying his time on the bench

Street Vendors are also a unique site here and seemed to have come out of nowhere. Though the way they arranged their shop was quite neat and orderly.

My Favorite Sculpture along Orchard Road and right in front of ION

Crossing the Street in Singapore. Everyone really follows the signals as to when pedestrians should cross the street. I noticed that if you see someone that wasn't following the traffic signs they are more likely to be a tourist :) 

ION was our last stop in Orchard Road and was really a one stop shop for anyone that was looking for anything - designer brands that is. You could find anything from Uni Qlo to Armani and the Mall interiors itself was built like a 5 star hotel. If you needed help with getting around and finding particular shops, like us we wanted to look for Nespresso, all you had to do was look for the information booths available in almost every floor. It is also here that you can dine and have a full 360degree look of singapore through IONSKY. It is for this that ION is a definite shoppers and diners haven.

This is a picture of ION sent by a friend of mine source is unknown but is quite an awesome picture of how the place is when fully lit up.

One the cool architectural designs made in Orchard. That covers escalators leading to the lower levels of ION 

Inside you'll see cathedral high ceilings and an overwhelming number of stores to choose from

One of my favorite shops cause of amount of glitter they put into making it stand out.

This is the Opera Food Court of ION. There are so many food choices one can make here. From Middle Eastern Cuisine to Chinese. There is surely something to fill your food desires at an affordable rate.

They have a large collection of artwork shaped into animals in the Opera Food Court of ION that day. You'll also notice that the ones cleaning up are old people whom they call aunties and uncles. It is quite amazing to see that Singaporean give a chance to those that still want to work regardless of their age.

View from the top of ION

Breath-taking 360 view of Singapore on IONSKY. A definite must see.

After Orchard we hoped onto a cab as we decided to pay a visit to China Town particularly Temple and Pagoda Street. Here we immediately noticed how they were able to maintain the old homes and converted them in to quaint little business establishments selling bargain stuff and of course food. It was here that we planned to try out all the Crab Dishes which I was dying to eat from the moment we landed in Singapore - Chilli Crab and Pepper Crab. Aside from the food we also couldn't pass up the bargain of shopping where we found amazing fancy jewelry, pouches and other novelty items to bring home to love ones. I also found unique shops that brought out the kid in me, such as a TINTIN shop dedicated to my childhood Hero Tintin and his faithful dog Snowy. I also got to see a shop that would be an great find for coin collectors, they even had the world's largest coin on display for everyone to see. It was also here in China Town that we got to try out the street food. The impression on every tourist's mind is that this is probably the most cleanest looking China Town in the world. Well organized too.

This was what I was Craving for - CHILLI CRAB!!!  Best eaten with rice or that fried bread buns.

This shot was taken at Temple Street where the cabs usually let their passengers off. I loved the touches of red lanters and it is here that you can already see the old building architecture that have been restored.

Intersection of Temple Street and Pagoda Street. One side leads to the novelty shop while the other leads to the Hawkers Market 

So many souvenir shops abound with lots of bargain items one can buy for loved ones back home.

Here are samples of the items you can buy here that is typical of any China Town.

Here is the menu of the restaurant we picked to have an early dinner ChinaTown Seafood Restaurant. Everything looked so appetizing.

Had a bottle of their local beer called Tiger beer for SGD 5.90 It was quite good and big for a single bottle.

This was another Crab Menu that i just loved, crab with egg. It is a definite must try. 

Enjoying the view of people passing by and shopping while eating one of the most delectable Chinese Cuisine.

I have always been a Fan of Colorful Old Homes.

Bargain sales are in every corner of China Town

Too good to pass up - The World's Largest coin on display. Wonder how big the purse was :) 

A former mode of transportation in China Town up for display for those that are curious.

Ahh yes, my childhood hero. I was filled with child like enthusiasm as I saw this store. It was quite unexpected to see a collector's shop like this here of all places. 

Having a picture taken with my favorite childhood hero

This is most likely in preparation for the TINTIN Movie. Snowy is always so adorable.

The shops were endless, you can just imagine how many things we bought along the way. 

We just had to drop by this shop. My partner wanted to get traditional chinese beef jerky and i wanted my moon cakes :)  This shop is scattered across China Town and is a must visit for all you beef jerky fans.

The variety of dried meat and pork was endless and neatly packed in large, medium and small portions.

You can also buy those that were fresh off the grill. 

This was another one of the crabs we ate - The pepper crab was just as good if not better than the chili crab.

Night time in China Town was like a Disney Wonderland all lit up. 

There are even gadget shops for those that want to purchase cameras if in case you left yours at home. Though this one emphasized on being a Manly store hehe guess women here don't shop.

The evening also brought on the craving to try the street Hawker's dishes which all looked tempting.

Tourists from all over were dying to get a taste of this sought after dish.

Soup anyone? :)  

The tables are not for just one specific stall, its for everyone's use.

I was told that Aug was their ghost month thus there are many Chinese shops that have placed offerings at their establishments.  

Street food never looked and tasted this good.

As you can see people were just lining up. Aside from being delish it was quite affordable too. You can have a full meal in less than SGD10 to SGD15 here. 

This is also a popular soup dish that most people would go for here in Singapore, though the most famous one is near Clarke Quay's Central Mall called Song Fa Bak Kut Teh

If you are thirsty, they have drink stalls that can sell every beverage available in Singapore. I had another one of those Tiger beers again. 

All the grill and fried chinese food to choose from :) 

There are also regular Chinese Restaurant beside the Hawkers just on the opposite side of the street if you prefer something more formal sorta

After we had our fill of food and sights to see, we headed back to our hotel near Clarke Quay at Carpenter street. We stayed at a Hotel called Le Hotel which we found through Agoda.com and was surprisingly well recommended in TripAdvisor for Singapore. Le Hotel is also just right at the corner of where the most popular and highly recommended Ba Kut Teh Restaurant called SONGFA is locatied. By the time we reached our hotel we simply just fell asleep since we were exhausted and had to be up early for the next day's Singapore adventure.

Next time you shall get to read and see more stories of what we have done in Singapore while we stayed there for 11 days. Coming up next Singapore article is of course Universal Studios of Resorts World Sentosa and the Popular Marina Bay Sands with special feature on their Gardens by the Bay.

Till the Next Time....

-Metz-